I’m starting to netcast for the first time again since I conceived of and executive produced ‘Fiber‘ back in 1995, before ISDN or T1 were available! ‘Fiber’ was the World’s 1st online fashion show event ever, and it was broadcast over copper phone lines to the Mbone at UC Berkeley, CA, and then out to the world!

The food was presented beautifully. And, my friends hooked me up with a vegan meal, of course!

Check out this space, there was a pool and water fountain in the center. It was cold that night though. The ladies were all freezing in their cocktail dresses. I had my coat on for dinner. Dinner was accompanied by performances by 3 Korean pop stars. Sort of made me giggle. USA and Korea entertainment is very different. An incredible event. And great conference the following day with discussions and inspiration for ways to encourage more diversity in the media. Some said it’ll take a few years. I’m not holding my breath though….

Labor Day marks the weekend my Rhodesian Ridgeback, Kanga, and I rescued one another….9-years ago! How time flies. (and yes, I cake sunblock on my face, as you can see).

Kanga had been at the Humane Society for over 2 weeks, and no one adopted her. Surprising, since she is a beautiful specimen of this breed. Plus, she came fully trained, so someone had spent a lot of time and energy with her. She was skin and bone, and 50+ pounds underweight with kennel cough and dusty fur. Poor baby.

Luckily, a truck intercepted 20 dogs on their way to get euthanized, and brought them back to a no-kill shelter in Portland, OR called Family Dogs NW. This was where I found Kanga early the very next morning. I applied the same raw food principles to Kanga as I do for human healing, and over the next month or two she gained 50 pounds and regained radiant health on a Raw Food diet. You can read more about her journey in Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen, where Kanga has her own dog food chapter.

My brother Max saw this photo of Kanga and said she looks like she’s “mugging”. I had to ask him what the heck that means. Max said “mugging = posing, like rappers do for pics”. Hahaa. Yup, Kanga is a superstar, and very popular too. Folks always stop us to pet her, especially young children.

Kanga’s from Rhodesia, which is now Zimbabwe Rhodesia, and the Sahara so she loves the sun, warmth, and sand. She hates water, but it was so hot out that Kanga got her paws wet. I love dog beach because here she can roam off-leash, and run free to play with other dogs.

Kanga and I love laying in the sand and soaking up the sun. It’s never hot enough for us, and soaking up sun is one of our favorite past times. I’m happy I got to take Kanga to Huntington Dog Beach yesterday on the final hot day of the summer (it was 90 F) to celebrate her 9-year Bday and Dogversary with me. Thank you Kanga for being my family, love, and for hanging out with me for the past 9-years! I love you.

I was invited onto FOX in San Diego for a 6-minute segment on the benefits of the raw food diet and to talk about the Sambazon Warrior Up Campaign. I made host Raoul Martinez a few smoothies including a Banana Butter Breeze with Cacao. I planned to make him a Tomato Tarragon Bisque, but ran out of time.

I was invited to visit 105degrees in Oklahoma City by owners Chef Matthew Kenney and the lovely Dara Prentice. I taught a public class on Tuesday evening July 13th to a packed room of ladies, spoke to the Academy students on the 14th, and then hosted a sold out RAWkstar Dinner event later that evening.

My class introduction where I speak about being raised on a raw food diet, and my reintroduction as an adult to the gourmet raw food diet for functionality, health, vitality, mental clarity, and focus.

Here I show the class how to make my South-of-the-Border Wraps, which are super fresh, healthy, raw food wraps filled with Cashew Chipotle Cheeze and drizzled with a decadent Chocolate Mole Sauce. From page 180 of Ani’s Raw Food Essentials.

It was an amazing trip, I love Oklahoma City. Everyone was super warm and inviting. And, I was even surprised by a delivery of a bouquet of balloons from 3 ladies the following day! The card read “Thank you for a thrilling evening last night”….which could potentially sound strange taken out of context. Ha haaa.

I’m so grateful to have amazing friends like Dara and Matthew who create so much good in our world! Thank you Dara and Matthew for all of your inspiration, love, and beauty! xoxo

This healthy drink is simple to make using water kefir grains that you can purchase online. I include resources in my book, and recommend going straight to the source for the living grains. Avoid the processed, dried, packaged grains because they are not as vital as the living grains. Plus, the dry grains only brew maybe three batches before you have to go and buy more dried grains again.

It takes just 48 hours to brew Water Kefir, and it’s full of friendly bacteria for building healthy intestinal flora. It helps me with digestion, assimilation of nutrients, and elimination. I enjoy Water Kefir with and after meals to help with digestion. I drink a cup on an empty stomach before bed to balance my intestinal flora.

In this video, I use a variation of the recipe in my book.

Water KefirNote: avoid metal. Metal damages probiotics and water kefir grains. Use only plastic spoons, measuring cups, and glass jars.

4 cups filtered water

1/3 cup organic cane juice crystals (sugar)

1 Tablespoon turbinado (brown)

2 pieces ginger

3 slices dried pear (unsulphured)

1/4 cup water kefir grains

Place water into a glass jar. Add sugars, ginger, pear, and stir. Add grains. Close lid, and store in cabinet for 48 hours to brew.

Pour brew through a plastic sieve to catch the grains. Remove ginger and pear. Store brew in glass bottles at room temperature to increase vitamin B levels. Or, store in fridge to chill.

I had the honor of appearing on Spencer Christian and Janelle Wang’s show The View from the Bay, ABC Channel 7 along my San Francisco book tour for Ani’s Raw Food Essentials. This was my 3rd appearance on the show, and I adore the hosts. Spencer loves raw food, and I think we’ve finally won Janelle over with these two recipes for Korean Stir-Fried Kelp Noodles with Vegetables (Jap Chae), page 224, and Custard Tartlets, page 267.

For organic ingredients and kitchen tools, visit my estore and Go Super Life! We’re running a special on Kelp Noodles and Cashews for the month of June to celebrate my new book!

I kicked off my SF book tour at the Ferry Building Farmers’ Market yesterday. It’s sunny and warm here in San Francisco, and the market was packed with people shopping locally and seasonally. This has got to be the best farmer’s market in the country. I found amazingly sweet peaches and beautiful heirloom squash that are only available 1-2 weeks a year. What a treat!

I spoke to a full house about the benefits of raw food, weight loss, natural living, happiness, and my new book Ani’s Raw Food Essentials. I demoed a recipe for TOMATO AND TARRAGON BISQUE, page 137, and STRAWBERRY KREAM PIE, page 266.

Sarah, who organizes the chef demoes, helped me portion and pass out samples. Most people in the audience were already familiar with raw foods, but it’s always fun to watch their reactions when they taste one of my raw recipes. Of course, folks loved the soup and dessert. You can see Barry Jan behind the camera on the left, and you’ll find a couple of his photos in Ani’s Raw Food Essentials from last year’s farmer’s market talk and demo.

This may have been my longest line for book signing yet. Patient people stood in line for 50 minutes to meet me and to have me sign their books. What a huge honor for me that folks would wait around so long. I love meeting people, hearing their stories in person, and feeling the love they share with me. This bright energy is what keeps me doing what I do…it fuels my soul.

It was lovely to see many long time friends, like Dr D, and old friend from LA who now lives in Thailand. He happened to be in town, and brought me a moss monkey that’s the cutest plant I’ve ever seen! He’ll have to care for monkey while I’m in Florida since I don’t think it would make it on the plane.

Another long time friend and two lovebirds Jeff, who took all these photos for me, and Frog.

Hanging out at this awesome farmers’ market on a warm, sunny day was the best way to spend my Saturday. From here, I headed to Napa next….